Tag Archives: client

TNF #130: Matching clients

Welcome Professionals…

…recently I was talking to a highly successful sales manager. I was a bit surprised as this person obviously did not have the high level of empathy that I would normally expect with sales professionals. Furthermore, he did not have a very engaging personality, he was rather distant in a way. If he had ever read Dale Carnegie’s “How to win friends and influence people” – the standard book in sales since nearly a century – he had chosen to ignore this piece of advice. Yet, this person was highly succesful in sales. What was his trick?

He told me that his most important success factor was choosing the right target clients. He made a big effort in analyzing the requirements of potential prospects and only made the approach when there was a very good fit between client requirements and the offering of his company. As simple as it sounds, that was it. Of course, he had to put in quite a lot of work in analyzing and understanding the client’s needs. But when he was sure there was a complete match, there was nothing that could have stopped him. Most of the time his effort would pay off in winning a new client.

Imagine, you would only address those prospects that are seriously a good match to your service offering, to your personality, to your own values and to your communication style? Imagine how much fun it would be to work with these clients? And I bet you could spend your client acquisition time much more effectively.

Wishing you big wins that match!

Malte

TNF #125: Client first

Welcome Professionals…

…”Client first” is the most basic rule for top management consultants. It is so basic that it feels too banal to mention it in this best practice journal.

Sometimes even the most basic rules get overlooked. Let me share one example.

This week a client send me a note asking for intermediate results. We had agreed a presentation of results one week later, but he needed what I had just now. I was reluctant to do so, because it meant I had to share something that was not in the right format, that was not complete, that was not explained in the proper way. Finally, we had made an agreement with a detailed timeline and I don’t like being pushed for something that is not due yet.

I felt a strong urge to explain to the client why sharing intermediate results at this point in time was not the right thing to do. According to my opinion, the idea of sharing the stuff with the whole board of directors was even worse. But it does not matter. The rule says: “Client first!”

The client orders, the client decides. Of course he was aware that he broke the timeplan. So I did not even mention my worries. I only said: “If it is important for you to receive the intermediate version right now, I will flexibly change our plan. Here they are – tell me if you would like to have a discussion on it.”

To me this is the only way to deal with it. Client first – everything else second!

Malte

TNF #110: At your best

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Welcome Professionals…

…Do you do checkup calls with target clients sometimes? Calling clients you haven’t worked with for some time to see whether they have a current need that could be turned into your next assignment? I do.

Doing a call is always much more personal than sending an email. We will also be able to gather much more information in a two-way conversation instead of an interchange of emails. In a personal phone call, we are able to submit much more meaning behind the words and bring across our personality.

On the contrary, the spoken word may reveal our current state of mind much easier than a written text. This can be a disadvantage sometimes. I used to do these kind of checkup calls one after another when I was desparately looking for the next project. Not a good idea! Too much pressure and anxiety will be transported in that client conversation. It is an unconscious setup for failure.

Instead, we want to do business development calls when we are at our best. Maybe when we have just won another contract or when we have had another success. This is actually the best time to make such a call. It seems counterintuitive to ask for more work when you have just received an assignment, but psychologically it makes sense. We want to feel confident and relaxed.

If a current success story is not in reach and you still want to make this calls, at least get yourself into a good mood. For example, I go for a walk in the sun while doing the phone call instead of sitting in the office starring at my computer screen. Try it, it makes a huge difference!

Wishing you lots of new client

Malte

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